T. Rowe Price announces sale of its bank

T. Rowe Price said it was selling its bank to New York financier Jacob M. Safra for about $24 million in light of new banking regulations that would limit other aspects of the Baltimore-based money manager's business.

The bank was launched in 2000 as an additional service to clients and had $149.5 million in assets invested in certificates of deposit at the end of March, said spokesman Brian Lewbart. New banking regulations, though, would restrict other aspects of the company's operations, such as limiting Price's ability to provide seed money to some overseas investment vehicles, he said.

"To continue to offer those FDIC-insured products to a small number of bank clients was not enough to offset the impact of the higher regulatory burden would have on our ability to manage the firm and continue performing for our clients," Lewbart said.

The sale is expected to close at the end of the year. After the sale, the bank will move from Baltimore to New York and its new name is expected to be M.Y. Safra Bank, Lewbart said.

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